Bishop Samuel Aquila on the fundamental right to life: “We will be
judged”

Press release posted on the Diocese of Fargo website

Nov. 3, 2008

At a Nov. 2 Mass marking the completion of the 40 Days for Life North
Dakota campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion, Most Rev. Samuel J.
Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, spoke of “the four last things…death, judgment,
heaven and hell.”

“Judgment is real, just as heaven and hell are real,” Bishop Aquila said
during his homily at the 11 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo.
“When the soul separates from the body and comes before God, we will be
judged on how we lived. It’s important to understand the reality of that
judgment.”

Bishop Aquila urged the nearly 200 people in attendance to reflect upon the
four last things and how they apply to the 40 Days for Life effort. The 40
Days for Life North Dakota effort of prayer, fasting and peaceful, prayerful
witness outside the state of North Dakota’s only abortion facility began
Sept. 24, in conjunction with similar campaigns in more than 170 cities
across the nation. During those 40 days, hundreds of volunteers,
representing several faith backgrounds, prayed in one-hour shifts,
24-hours-a-day, on the sidewalk outside the Red River Womens Clinic at 512
1st Ave. N. in Fargo. An average of more than 20 unborn babies are killed by
abortion each week at the clinic.

The bishop spoke of the Catholic Church’s teaching on intrinsic evils. “An
intrinsic evil is anything that is always and at every time wrong – that can
never be seen as a ‘good’.” He noted the intrinsic evils of abortion,
contraception, premarital sex, same sex acts and the taking of innocent
human life during war.

“All of those are intrinsic evils, and no society, and no person if he is
Catholic, can ever support an intrinsic evil nor can he or she ever vote for
someone who supports intrinsic evil. It is important to understand that, and
to understand that truth especially in the upcoming election. Because, yes,
all of us will be judged by how we vote. And, yes, there are many Catholics
with erroneous consciences who have made prudential judgments that are wrong
and have consistently made prudential judgments that are wrong. Either they
do not fully understand the teaching of the Church or they choose to ignore
that teaching and they choose an evil, and an intrinsic evil.”

“For any society to be just, it must reflect the order of God,” Bishop
Aquila said. “There are fundamental rights that no one can violate and those
are the inalienable rights that our forefathers recognized so clearly -- and
note the order -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” He said
people must be concerned about the economy, the war in Iraq, the questions
about immigration and other issues, but “we must recognize that first must
come the fundamental right to life…the respect for human life from the
moment of conception to natural death.”

“It is important for us to never give up the battle that is taking place
within our country,” he said. “Even as we close these 40 days, I encourage
each of you to continue to stand for the gift of life. I encourage you to
continue to pray and fast in your own homes. I encourage you to pray in
front of the abortion clinic, to pray for the conversion of all those who
support a so-called right to abortion, because, by doing that, they are
risking hell. When one looks at the Gospel, and looks at the teaching of
Jesus, that is what they are risking.”

The Mass was the final event marking the end of 40 Days for Life North
Dakota. Earlier that evening, more than 170 people participated in an
ecumenical candlelight prayer service outside the Red River Womens Clinic,
led by the Rev. Dave Motta, pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church,
Fargo, and Father Charles LaCroix, chaplain of Shanley High School, the
Catholic high school in Fargo.